Henry Dearborn to Thomas Jefferson, 22 October 1805
From Henry Dearborn
Octobr. 22d. 1805—
Sir
I herewith enclose a rough scetch of the outlines of a new organization of the Militia, for your consideration.—I am at a loss how to organize the Seamen—we cannot with propriety form them into corps under Officers who should command them in actual service. perhaps it may be advisable to have them enrolled with the respective Corps of Militia & designated on the rolls as Seamen, and excused from mustering with the Militia, in that case, the Officers of the Militia could be called upon to make regular returns of the Seamen in their respective Corps, and also for making the necessary detachments when required, for actual service.—
with respectfull esteem I am Your Obedt. Hum Sevt
H. Dearborn
RC (DLC); at head of text: “to the President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 22 Oct. and “Militia” and so recorded in SJL.
new organization of the Militia: the militia act of 8 May 1792 specified that the enrolled militia of the United States encompassed every able-bodied resident white male citizen between the ages of 18 and 45, but did not classify the militia by age groups. In that same law, the country’s Seamen who were “actually employed in the sea service of any citizen or merchant within the United States” were exempted from militia duty. It is apparent from Dearborn’s letter and its enclosure, TJ’s subsequent efforts to determine the numbers of eligible men, and the bills he drafted in November that the president and cabinet were considering ways to organize the militia by age categories and to enroll marines in a naval militia (, 1:271-4; Estimates of Men Eligible for Militia, [on or after 22 Oct. 1805]; TJ to Dearborn, 23 Oct.; TJ to Gallatin, 3 Nov.; Gallatin to TJ, 3 Nov.; Naval and Land Militia Enrollment Estimates, [on or after 3 Nov. 1805]; Bill for Establishing a Naval Militia and Bill for Organizing the Militia, both at 14 Nov.).